High gas prices? No problem for this biofuel-making Destrehan teen

As soon as a teenager gets his or her driver's license, the costs of driving hits home. Included in that for many high school students is being asked to partially or totally pay for fuel.

Teenagers learn to find the lowest priced gas stations in a hurry, but Dillon Deshotel doesn't worry about gas prices. Deshotel, a recent Destrehan High graduate, makes his own biodiesel at home. For him, fluctuating gas prices are irrelevant. His fuel is always less than a dollar a gallon.

"It isn't very hard to make at all with the right equipment," Deshotel said. "The hardest part is filtering the cooking oil, so that there isn't pieces of batter and debris from whatever was cooked in the oil."

Biodiesel can be made easiest from waste oil, which is used cooking or fryer oil that has been used multiple times or trap-grease. Restaurants have regulations on how to dispose of the oils to prevent fats and oil that go down drains from entering sewer pipes.

"My dad had a seafood restaurant where he was paying someone to dispose of the used oil," Deshotel said. "He had a diesel truck and a diesel boat and was always interested in science, so about 10 years ago he decided to try making biodiesel and it ended up working well. Throughout the years, he showed me the ins and outs of making it."

Can anyone modify their diesel engine to use biodiesel?

"My friends always say, 'That's so cool, I wish I could make my own gas,' but in reality, none of their vehicles have the capability to run biodiesel," Deshotel said. "In fact, when my dad was looking at new vehicles, the latest one he found that could run on biofuel with simple modifications was a 2012 model year."

Deshotel's 2000 Ford F250 is a model that is compatible with the biofuel.

"I think that making biofuels, such as biodiesel, is simple enough, but that's because I grew up doing it with my dad," Deshotel said. "But I think it will be really hard for people to just decide they want to start making biofuels because not many vehicles have the capability to run off of biofuels and the fact that you need a steady source of cooking oil to be able to make it in the first place.

"When I use biodiesel, it's more of a financial benefit because it ends up costing a little bit less than $1 gallon rather than paying $2 to $3 a gallon. It is a cheaper fuel, but it is also a cleaner burning fuel, so it's better for not only my engine but the environment as well."

Some of the most environmentally friendly biodiesel feedstocks are used oil and waste grease. According to the EPA, biodiesel produced from waste grease results in an 86 percent reduction in greenhouse gases compared to petro-diesel.

"I think that biodiesel is better alternative energy source because of that reason, and the same goes with electric cars," Deshotel said. "People buy them because they think that it is greener and somehow safer for the environment. However, the amount of fuel it takes to make the electricity actually ends up being more than just using fossil fuels as the fuel source."

According to the American Society for Testing and Materials International (ASTM International), biodiesel has the highest energy balance of any fuel, returning 5.5 units of energy for every unit of fossil energy needed to produce it.

New cropland isn't needed to make biodiesel because it is produced from co-products and by-products of crops grown for food and other materials. From 2008 to 2016, the United States tripled biodiesel use.

As Deshotel prepares to leave home for college at LSU, his biodiesel set-up will remain at home.

"I will use it when I can, since I will be moving away," he said. "I will definitely need to fill up at a gas station a few times, but when I come home I will definitely make sure I do not leave without filling up my truck with biodiesel."